Tours Can Combine Several Approaches

Because of Alaska`s vastness, Elaine Wilson, an agent at Rita Olwell Travel Service in Fort Lauderdale, recommends to her clients a cruise/tour of the state.

``They can travel by ferryboat or luxurious five-star cruises through the Inside Passage. And I normally try to convince people that once they get up to Whittier, they should extend their trip onto land because there`s so much out there,`` Wilson says.

``If you just do the cruises you see these little islands on the Inside Passage, but you`re not seeing the openness, the vastness of Alaska. There are tours that go all the way up to Nome and Kotzebue. And that`s a real honest- to-God Alaskan village above the Arctic Circle, and that`s where you really see the Eskimo.``

Charlene Oberman of Travel Plus in Boca Raton, and Ray Moquin, agency manager at All Seasons Travel in Wilton Manors, agree with Wilson.

``We recommend a cruise and a motorcoach tour to Denali Park,`` Oberman says. ``It is far. It`s a long trip. Most people feel they are going to go there once and are not going to go back. Basically they want to see what they can while they`re out there.``

A combination cruise/tour gives travelers good dollar value and two perspectives, Moquin says. ``In other words, you get the coastline view with the coastline cities of Juneau, Sitka and Anchorage, and then you go inland with a train tour into Denali Park, which is the highlight of the inland tour and then you terminate your tour in Fairbanks.``

Here are some sample cruise/

tour packages available this season. These companies also offer a variety of other packages.

HOLLAND AMERICA WESTOURS

One of the packages Wilson recommends is a 13-day cruise/tour from Vancouver, British Columbia, aboard a Holland America ship. The Inside Passage cruise visits Ketchikan, Juneau, the Mendenhall Glacier, Lynn Canal and Skagway. From Skagway, participants take the Trail of the `98 Railroad to Whitehorse, then proceed by motorcoach to Beaver Creek and Fairbanks. In Fairbanks, they take a riverboat cruise, then proceed by dome train to Denali National Park and Anchorage. Starting price is $2,149 per person, double. For information, call a travel agent or Holland America Westours at 1-800-426-0327.

CUNARD LINE

One of the packages Oberman books for clients is a 16-day ``Mount McKinley and Alaska Heartland`` tour that includes an 11-day cruise on board the Sagafjord. Participants fly to Vancouver, then cruise to Anchorage, calling at Ketchikan, Juneau, Skagway, Sitka and visiting the Hubbard and Columbia Glaciers and Prince William Sound and Kenai Fjords National Park. A flight to Fairbanks from Anchorage and a Midnight Sun Express Railroad to Denali National Park are other highlights. Starting price is $4,195 per person, double. For information, contact a travel agent or Cunard at 1-800-528-6273.

ALASKA YACHT TOURS

This is one of the cruise/tour combinations Moquin recommends to clients. One offering by Alaska Yacht Tours is a 12-day package featuring a three-day Inside Passage yacht cruise from Ketchikan to Juneau, MendenhallGlacier tour, flight to Anchorage, sightseeing in Anchorage, Turnagain Arm, Portage Glacier and Alyeska Ski Resort. Other highlights include a yacht cruise to Columbia Glacier, Esther Passage and Berry Arm, overnight at Valdez, then motorcoach trip to Keystone Canyon, Copper River Valley and on to Fairbanks and Denali Park. Starting price is $2,095 per person, double. For information, contact a travel agent or Alaska Yacht Tours, TravAlaska, Suite 700, Fourth & Battery Building, Seattle, Wash. 98121.

ALASKA SIGHTSEEING TOURS

Among this tour company`s offerings is a five-day package with a three-day tour aboard the Sheltered Seas, a yachtlike ship sailing out of Ketchikan to Juneau via Wrangell and Petersburg. Areas visited include Wrangell Narrows, Leconte Glacier and Tracy Arm Fjord. The itinerary allows for unscheduled stops to view wildlife.

Royal Viking Tours offers a combination cruise/tour aboard the Royal Viking Sea. The land portion, which may be taken before or after the cruise, is a six-day Anchorage to Anchorage package. Highlights include a motorcoach trip across the Kenai Peninsula to Anchorage, sightseeing in Anchorage, a Midnight Sun Express ride to Denali National Park, tour of Denali and riverboat ride in Fairbanks. Cruise features include Glacier Bay visit and Inside Passage cruising. Cruise/tour prices start at $2,720 per person, double. Airfare is not included. For information, call 1-800-426-5478.

Georgina Cruz is a free-lance writer based in Coral Springs.

TRIP TIPS

Ray Moquin, agency manager at All Seasons Travel, offers the following tips for first-timers to Alaska:

-- Ask your travel agent about early booking discounts. These sometimes can be $150 to $300 or more per person.

-- Cruise and tour season is May through September, with the height of the season (and higher prices) being July and August, which is thought to be the most desirable time to visit because of milder temperatures.

-- Bring clothes for the layered look; that way you can add or peel off layers depending on the temperatures. Average summer temperatures are in the 60s in Southeast Alaska and Southcentral Alaska, in the 70s in the interior, according to the Alaska Division of Tourism.

-- Smaller ships have better access to glaciers. Sometimes, Moquin says, they can get so close you actually can touch the glacier.